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Here's
what we did in 2008 -
Please send any news to Mike Wellner
so that all can share.
Michael |
Spring '08 |
Heard from Bill Ealer, who reports that
he’s been at the Pennsylvania College of Technology since
graduating from the ‘Tute. He’s been a registered architect
for the last dozen years or so, and has been an arbitrator for
the AAA (American Arbitration Association) since 1972. Bill
lives in Williamsport, PA, where he serves on the Town Board,
and on the Historical Architectural Board, where he was Chair
for twenty years. And he’s done a bit of traveling as well
since leaving Troy, visiting England, France, Belgium, Germany
and Holland (my kind of guy!). You can catch up with Bill at
bealer@pct.edu.
Ed Gelber
sent in a long report to say (this is important!) that he and
his wife Laura actually went back to campus this past Fall for
the first time since graduation. A direct quote: “It was truly
amazing to see the new changes intermixed with the old familiar
past. Having purchased a second home in nearby Canaan, N.Y., it
was an easy hop. A campus tour including Walker Lab brought
back old memories of an explosion in the organic Chem Lab, which
sent me running for one of those emergency showers only to stand
under a torrent of rust.”
After graduation, Ed & Laura bounced around the
East Coast while getting educated then drafted then educated
some more before finally settling in Coral Gables, FL where
Laura got her law degree, and Ed finished off a postdoctoral
fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Ed has been
practicing ophthalmology for some thirty years, and (thanks to a
great education) is still going strong. He and Laura have two
sons and three grandchildren all living in the Miami area. Most
of his recreational time is spent fly-fishing in the backcountry
of the Everglades and Florida Keys. In fact, his return to
campus was prompted by a discussion with the materials
engineering faculty regarding a patent application for a new
fishing device. After all, every fisherman will tell you that
he always needs more fishing gear. Any classmates passing
through who have an interest in getting out into the Glades
should feel free to get in touch with Ed at
docgelber@aol.com.
Also heard from
Guido Karcher,
P.E, who received ASME’s Melvin R. Green Codes and
Standards Medal at the 2007 International Mechanical
Engineering Congress and Exposition, held in Seattle in
November. The award recognizes his outstanding leadership in
the advancement of ASME codes and standards, including the
development of state-of-the-art standards and promoting the
global recognition of ASME.
Guido retired from Exxon Research and
Engineering Co. in Florham Park, N.J., after serving 30
years as an internationally recognized engineering adviser
on pressure vessel, piping and tankage design, construction
and maintenance. Since 1994, he has been providing
consulting engineering services in these areas for several
companies in the petrochemical and pressure equipment
manufacturing industries. He is an ASME life fellow, author
of numerous technical papers and presentations, and patent
holder. Feel free to contact him at
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
(from Meg)
Your faithful class correspondent Mike Wellner
reports that he and his better half just returned from a
week-long cruise aboard with WindSurf, sailing out of Barbados,
and calling at St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Barths, and Ile
de Saintes. All in all it was a great week of fun in the sun.
Otherwise life in the big city continues to treat us well; we
keep busy with lots of Broadway shows, first run movies, and
lots of dinners out. And of course lots of volunteer work for
our alma mater! I’d love to hear from everyone: just drop me
a note (captmike46@aol.com)
and I’ll add your news to the next column.
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Summer '08 |
Had a very nice
note from an old freshman-year friend of mine (and “A” dorm
resident), Allan Warshawsky, who has been living in
Israel for several years. He’s still married to his Skidmore
sweetheart, Sheila, and they have three married kids and nine
grandchildren.
Sheila has just retired as an administrator in the International
School of Medicine, tied with Columbia, at Ben Gurion
University. Allan and his son Jonathan have set up a firm in
the USA doing portfolio management. That company, Hansbury, is
registered as a Financial Manager with Smith Barney, and boasts
both Israeli and U.S. clients. In addition, Allan’s volunteer
activities continue unabated: he is a Board member of Ben
Gurion University, a member of its audit committee, Chair of
Finance Committee of his synagogue, and general "repair man" for
his three kids’ homes. See – an engineering education really
does come in handy! He also serves on the Board
of a public Israeli Candy Company, and still does
some Industrial Management consulting.
For our 45th reunion coming next year Allan may just
be the alum who travels the farthest distance to be with us.
Drop Allan a note at
Awisrael@aol.com
and encourage him to
join us next year (Note: reunion ‘09 will be held in October.)
Also
had a brief note from former Phalanx member Ron Posner,
who reports that he just became CEO of eChinaCash,
(www.echinacash.com)
in Beijing. This position involves regular commuting from San
Francisco to Beijing – twelve hours each way (and you thought
that you had a long commute!) Get a hold of Ron at
rsposner@aol.com to get all his latest info.
Gary Gulden wrote to say
that he and Toodie just returned from a National Geographic trip
to Antarctica with Lindblad Expeditions. The trip was a 40th
anniversary gift to each other, and Gary said that it was a
fascinating adventure.
The scenery and wildlife were outstanding, amplified and
complemented by the staff of naturalists, a very interesting and
well-traveled group of fellow adventurers, a skilled ships crew,
and great food. After making the (somewhat rough) crossing of
the notorious Drake Passage, Gary and Toodie were able to go on
land at various points each day, and even do some sea kayaking
among the icebergs, seals, and penguins. Drop Gary a note at
gkgtelos@aol.com
and tell him to e-mail you a few pictures from the
bottom of the world!
Henry Gurshman, Esq. is
proud to announce that on March 19th he was honored as “Pro
Bono Attorney Of the Year” by the Middlesex County (NJ) Bar
Association. Good show – although Henry admits that it's a
curious feeling to be praised for working for nothing! (Perhaps
they have discovered his true worth.) Henry also reports that
his grandson, Samuel K. Srivastava, is now 20 months old,
continues to develop apace and shows much promise – although so
far he has not expressed any specific interest in RPI. But
there’s time! Sam(and his father, Sunil K. Srivastava and
mother, Rachel J. (Gurshman) Srivastava), live in Decatur, GA,
just outside Atlanta. Find out more info by contacting Henry
at
gurshmanlawfirm@aol.com.
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Winter
'08-'09 |
Had a short note from Peter
Benjamin, who reports that he has retired (if you want to
call it that) from formal employment. He remains a member of
the Washington Metro Transit Board of Directors; is a volunteer
leader of a Disaster Action Team for the Red Cross; and is in
his 21st year of volunteering with his wife Kathy in a local
soup kitchen. He and Kathy have two kayaks and a motor home in
which they entertain themselves. Peter also plays racquetball
regularly, and is a private pilot. He is also active in the
politics of his hometown of Garrett Park, where is a former
mayor. Peter also teaches Sunday School in his church, and is
active on several church committees. And with four children and
four grandchildren, he and Kathy have plenty of family
activities to fill up their "free" time. His friends say that
he has "failed" retirement. Ask him yourself by contacting
Peter at
kp.benj@verizon.net.
Caught
up with Chris Marinis, who spent his entire working
career with “Ma Bell,” starting out at New York Telephone
Company (like I did) right after graduation. Chris lives on
Long island, and was lucky enough to retire from the world of
telephones at age 57. Right now he is awaiting the birth of a
grandchild: his son and wife, who live in Greenwich Village,
are expecting any day now. Good luck to the whole family! Find
out more from Chris by e-mailing him at
cm44823@hotmail.com.
Another classmate who spent his entire career at “Ma Bell” is
Frank Gumper, who is active in many areas at RPI, including
being chairman of the Rensselaer Annual Fund. Frank is active
in the New York City alumni chapter, and participates in many of
its events. As of this writing Frank and his wife, Joanne, are
off on a trip to the Galapagos Islands, but he promises that
they’ll both be at our 45th reunion! You can contact
Frank at
frank.gumper@verizon.net.
One
of my more interesting alumni chats was with Tony Linn,
who lives in Closter, NJ, right across the Hudson from NY City.
He is still working full time – running five short line
railroads, all in Tennessee! (Not many other alums can make
that statement!) Tony started his railroad adventures with the
New York Central Railroad (remember that – seems like a hundred
years ago). That start led him to do some consulting work for
some of the major railroads in the country, one of which was
looking to spin-off a short line railroad that they owned.
Tony, along with a group of investors, bought it, then another,
and another, and now they are railroad magnates. Now if only
they had a railroad in the Troy area we could all take rides
during reunion week-end! Get all the details by contacting
Tony at
linnam@webspan.net.
If
Tony Clapes actually makes it back for reunion (Oct 2-4,
2009) he’ll likely get the award from the alum who has traveled
the furthest. Tony is living in Honolulu, where he’s been for
several years. He retired in 1997 as the Assistant General
Counsel at IBM. Now his career has taken a significant change –
he reports that he is actually working on a comic book! Get the
full story from Tony at
tclapes@attglobal.net. On the other hand, it might be a
close race with Alan Warshawsky (awisrael@aol.com),
currently living in Israel with his entire family. If you know
either one, send them and e-mail and convince them to join us in
October.
The
Rensselaer Alumni Association reports that it has awarded this
year’s Thomas W. Phelan Fellows Award to Jeff Gural.
Jeff is Chairman of Newmark Knight Frank, a full service
commercial real estate firm with offices in more than thirty
cities on six continents. He is responsible for the management
and leasing of more than eight million square feet of office
space, including one hundred fifty buildings in the New York
City metropolitan area. Jeff is very involved in many
charities in the New york City area, and serves on the Boards of
The Cooper Union and The New School, among many other
endeavors. Jeff and Paula recently donated $1 million to
establish the Paula and Jeffrey R. Gural ’64 Scholarship for
undergraduate students majoring in Civil Engineering. Jeff is a
member of the Stephen Van Rensselaer Society of Patroons. Jeff
can tell you much more: e-mail him at
jgural@newmarkkf.com.
Just
found out that Frank Fischer has been appointed to the
Board of Directors of Corevalve Inc., headquartered in Irvine,
California. Corevalve has a proprietary heart valve
replacement product that can provide an alternative to open
heart surgery. Frank has more than twenty-five years of
senior management experience in the medical device industry. He
has served on the NeuroPace Board of Directors since 1998, and
was appointed its CEO in January, 2000. Before that he was
President, CEO and Director of Ventritex, a company that has
pioneered implantable cardiac defibrillators. You can
congratulate Frank by e-mailing him at
ffischer@neuropace.com.
Also
spoke with John Wakelin, who retired in 1985 after a
twenty-year career as an Ordnance Officer in the US Army. He is
now in the world of academe, teaching web design at the New
Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord. He can fill you in if
you e-mail him at
jwakelin@tds.net.
Tom Luciano reports that
he is living the good life in sunny California. He retired from
a long career as a commercial airline pilot, and is now flying
for recreation with a friend, often to nearby Mexico. Tom
reports that he is on the verge of buying a twin-engine
Beechcraft Baron, which seats six. No excuse now for not making
it back for reunion! Catch up with Tom at
thelucky92@earthlink.net.
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